Java Kecil 2x

I gave a presentation on Pervasive Java, which includes some consumer Java APIs like BD-J and OCAP Java, to NJCCPS (New Jersey Chinese Computer Professionals Society), one of the largest Chinese associations in the east coast. I took the tack of more pictures and demos, less code, which is always a good thing, especially since many in the crowd were not coders.

The response was pretty enthusiastic, with the host having to stop the questioning after the 10 minute time alloted for questions had run past into the 20s, and with some people asking that a SIG be formed to focus on these technologies. One thing I noted was that many were more interested in the Sun SPOT sensors, probably because I had brought some with me to demo. You can find the slides here.

So, there I was getting ready to try out the enseQuence On-Q Studio demo that would allow me to participate in Fox’s Blu-ray contest, when the installer quit and told me I had to have a .NET framework 2.0 installed in my wife’s Windows XP! 


Now, granted that I am sometimes at odds with Swing and other desktop developers who turn their regal noses up at anything to do with mobile or other small java stuff, but there is a limit to just how much pain I am willing to inflict on fellow Java developers.

The sad thing was Sun was glibly giving away the demo discs at JavaOne, and the contest flyer had the Sun logo prominently displayed at the bottom.

Needless to say, the demo disc and flyer ended up pretty quickly in the hotel wastebasket. Call me when you’ve a BD-J authoring tool that is actually inexpensive and not an affront to my fellow developers.

I feel like a commuter whose train has departed the station and I can only glimpse portions of the activity inside through tinted windows, but I’ve been keeping track of the announcements via other blogs, and it looks like Sun is positioning JavaFX as a ubiquitous solution for Java GUIs - from desktops all the way to lower end mobile devices, and even to Blu-ray devices.

In his blog about the opening session, Lucas Jellema notes the following:

JavaFX will be integrated across all platforms: development experience for mobile deives,blu-ray, web applications. JavaFX runs on every existing Java SE platform! Even cooler: Battery powered mobile devices
Power of Java on desktop, project it to everone else JavaFX Mobile: Java SE and rich environment to every mobile device. Supports Java FX content authoring tools. Open, standards based technologies. The Network in your hand. Environment that suits Mobile Devive Manufacturers.

I highlighted the mentions of Blu-ray and porting Java SE GUIs to mobile devices via JavaFX. I’ll probably have more to say about this later when I can get a better handle on the REALITY (as opposed to Sun’s usual misty-eyed vision of what can be), but suffice it to say I have very big doubts about the immediate feasibility of this. There are just too many entrenched interests and competing stakeholders in the consumer and pervasive Java markets to make such a grandiose goal a reality any time soon.

However, if Sun simply displays some perserverance (much like Microsoft) and keeps this JavaFX as a running goal for the foreseaable future (as opposed to quietly dumping it when reality throws some wrenches in the works), then you may see some good things happening in the Java GUI space. I think people want to see not only big dreams from Sun but also big stamina.

Given the current state of Blu-ray authoring tools, it would surely be interesting if this new Java scripting language announced by Sun today could be used for authoring BD-Java. I’m still in cold NJ at the moment and thus am far from the action (so to speak), but I would easily bet my house that it will not be used for BD-J (at least not fairly soon).

Well, one can only hope, and I’ll be sure to ask around when I arrive in San Francisco tomorrow!

We have grouped together a series of websites exploring different aspects in the pervasive java development community. Hopefully, people will find such resources helpful in understanding the rational and work involved when exploring these new fields.

Lurker’s Guide to Pervasive Java

Forget Microsoft’s Silverlight as the new Flash Killer. I stumbled upon Chris Oliver’s work with F3, a new declarative Java scripting language, and basically got floored when I saw his demos (you can view them via Web Start). Java has been rightly criticized as sometimes having heavy-looking, kludgy GUIs, but the next time someone disses on Java, just point him to F3 and watch his jaw drop all the way to the floor.

What is F3?

Live demos of F3

More F3 demos

It’s too bad it took Sun more than 10 years to get it right. If they had moved out stuff like this earlier, we would never have been bothered by annoying Flash ad banners - we’d be bothered by annoying Java ad banners instead!

Now, someone should port this over to CDC devices as soon as possible

For people interested in BD-Java and Cable Java development, JavaOne this year will have an entire day session on Blu-ray and Cable development:

JavaONE 2007: Java Technology in TV: Blu-ray Disc and Cable Day

I’ll be there as well, my first JavaOne!

It seems to be interesting…but too bad it’s not near LA, I’m a USC guy and I’d like to visit my old haunts in that city while over there

I just went to a Spring seminar by the local Java SIG over at the Google.com offices in NYC, and having several hundred fellow developers around is pretty exciting - JavaOne will probably have 15,000-20,000 developers all crammed into the area…you’ll be able to smell GEEK sweat all the way to LA

Who would have thunk it? Does Apple, the sick old man of desktop computing just a few years ago, now have enough muscle to sway an entire industry? Some quotes:

The digital-music powerhouse is reportedly trying to convince movie studios to include iPod-ready versions of movies on new DVD format releases. If Steve Jobs has his way, all new movies coming out on the new Blu-Ray DVD format will include iPod-ready versions–yet another content driver for Apple’s iPod. That’s the word from a handful of iPod insider Web sites this week, a move that would substantially bolster the amount of iPod-ready film content, particularly if Apple unveils a video iPod with a larger display screen later this year. As of now, the only full-length feature film sold on iTunes is Disney’s High School Musical.

The reports indicated that Jobs is leveraging both Apple’s decision to support Sony’s Blu-Ray format in its battle with HD-DVD and his increasing clout in Hollywood as Disney’s biggest shareholder to convince movie studios to include iPod-ready content on Blu-Ray discs, which are set to hit retail stores next month.

Click here to read more.

Click here to read more about Blu-ray Java development.

You know the best thing about this ad? It’s not the sleek and powerful desktop PC. Nor is it the imposing presence of the DVD player, with its Sony mark of quality.

No, it’s the fact that Java ME (J2ME) will provide the interactivity of the Blu-ray discs that make all these possible.

Coming to a store near YOU.

There are resources to help developers who have developed for the obsolete PersonalJava migrate their applications to the new CDC environment. Granted, I don’t believe there are really that many PersonalJava apps lying around, but those who have developed in this area may want to read this interesting article by Eric Giguere.

I’ll highlight below one of the more relevant passages from his work.